Licensing

[Chad Perrin]

On Sat, May 09, 2009 at 09:47:52AM -0400, Steve Bertrand wrote:
> 
> One thing that did not cross my mind prior was regarding the comments
> Chad made, use in media other than within the programming scope itself.

I think that's an important consideration that most programmers overlook.

One of the greatest benefits of open source software is the availability
of the code for viewing by people who want to *learn*.  To use licenses
that make it difficult to include code in a single instructional work
distributed under the terms of a single license seems extremely
short-sighted to me.

Even if you don't think your code will ever be used in such a way, code
that *incorporates* yours may some day be suitable for such a purpose,
and it would be nice if the license you choose lends itself to such use
in the future.


> 
> FYI, almost all of my apps are for systems/network management and
> automation. I've written an application that bridges our wireless
> hotspots to our payment bank site (the bank supplied me a Perl module),
> through to radius, and with an expiry method to automatically remove the
> users so that the entire process is hands off.

The bank's Perl module may well impose constraints on how you can license
your code, in addition to any restrictions that may exist as a result of
employment agreements and contracts, at least if the module ends up being
part of, or a source of necessary functionality for, your code.


> 
> Most of my code would have to be changed to make it generic and not so
> site specific before being put out there. Being that I'm not really a
> programmer, having my code out there for peer review would make it much,
> much better if it was useful. (I'd probably be on the receiving end of
> finger pointing and laughing, but that's ok ;)

That's a great attitude.  I wish you the best of luck in coming to an
equitable and satisfying decision about licensing, and in future coding
efforts.

-- 
Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ]
Mike Maples, as quoted by James Gleick:  "My job is to get a fair share
of the software applications market, and to me that's 100 percent."
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